Couldn't pass up the chance to restore this 4 player EM. Especially for $75. Was in a family B&B about 1.5 hours from me for 20 plus years before becoming a paper weight and sitting in a barn for the last 10-15.

Started working on it just before the holidays and am slowly bringing her back to life. Meant to start this thread earlier but figured I'd wait until I had some good before and after shots. So far the back box, bottom control board and bottom side of playfield have been fully gone through. The normally dirt, grime, rust, and dead mice to deal with. Basically everything, everywhere needed to be disassembled and either replaced or thoroughly cleaned. I just got a parts order in and will be replacing about 30 or so sockets that are badly rusted.

Currently working on the playfield and will have some nice pics to show soon.

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Thanks. Should be a fun pin. Its coming along nicely.

Thanks. Does feel good to bring them back to life. I agree the before and after pics really do look good.

Thanks. Felt great to have two weeks off around the holidays. I could go non stop.

Playfield before and after pics. Prepped for touchups.

#big-deal-williams

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Thanks man. I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of local folks to shadow and ask questions of. It’s helped a lot and kept me motivated.

If you haven’t already check out my restoration video of the Gulfstream I did. It’s got a lot of detailed breakdown of parts and goes into some specifics of what I do when restoring.

Video- https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1973-williams-gulfstream-restoration-full-video#post-6086680

Nope will be making a DIY playfield protector from really thin PETG plastic sheet. Made one for my Gulfstream and it’s worked out great.

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Lots of parts/assemblies cleaned/polished and or replaced with new. Ultrasonic cleaner worked wonders on many parts.

Cleaned:
-Plastic posts
-Flipper bats
-Flipper pawl
-Metal lane guides
-Pop bumper rings
-Slingshot assemblies
-Kickout assembly
-Ball trough assembly

New:
-Flipper plunger
-Flipper bushings
-Coil stops
-Flipper EOS switches
-Coil Sleeves (all steel replaced with nylon)
-Springs
-Plastic lane guides
-Playfield rubbers

Soon To Be Replaced:
-Lamp sockets
-Lock relay coil

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For heavily noticeable ball swirls I use naptha and magic eraser. It rarely removes them all but my goal is usually to make them less noticeable. You have to pick your battles as it could be never ending, to the point of damage or hair pulling exhaustion. It made a huge difference on the white, blue and yellow areas. You then go back over with Novus 2, which removes the residue and brings back a glossy sheen.

Started playfield touchups last night.

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I agree completely. Difference of day and night. And they are the easiest touchups. If I was not going to install a playfield protector I would put some type of clear on to lock them down. But thats whats so great about these protectors is they allow anyone to do paint repairs without having to clear and if the next owner doesn't like the repair they can remove and redo easily.

Thanks!

Yea I haven't seen to many gameplay vids but the ones I have watched keep my hopes high. I think the layout in general is a good one and will promote fast competitive gameplay while keeping the novice interested.

Just finished up on what is probably my most extensive playfield touch up to date. It’s by no means great or up to snuff with many other folks paint repairs. But I’m happy with my progression.

I did this playing card last. The other bottom three I did not smooth out the touch up spot before hand and it shows. Not sure if I’ll redo the others but from this point forward I certainly will be either sanding or filling the area smooth before doing the paint repair. It makes a difference.

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Free hand. Could be a whole lot better but practice makes perfect certainly holds true on that type of touchup.

Couple more touchups. Color match on green and orange are not great. And I used leftover cream from the playing card touch ups. Which you would think would be a close enough match as it’s only a foot away. Nope. Way off. Oh well it’s underneath a plastic so it won’t show.

Stars and drops are a big improvement.

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(19x) lamp sockets replaced on the bottom playfield.

Playfield protector up next.

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Playfield protector finished. Time to repopulate the topside.

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Upper and lower aprons.

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Playfield reassembled. I didn’t have the correct pop bodies so I’m waiting for those to come in before I can rebuild the pop bumpers. After that the top protector film layer will be removed and reveal the final appearance.

The following was done:
- protector installed
- flippers full rebuild
- new rubbers
- new lane guides
- new #47 bulbs
- plastics cleaned
- posts cleaned
- outhole and kickout assemblies restored (All were very rusted and although cleaned up well have pitting that remains. I coated them with wax to protect from future tarnishing. You could also use polyclear or other sealer or have them plated)
- lower apron touched up / new plastic instruction card holders

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Playfield Finished

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Before and after

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Thanks alot. It's only my third EM restoration and certainly qualifies for the most challenging in a lot of ways. That's a great story about your dads Big Deal by the way. Stories like that always peak my interest.

Last night I powered up the machine for the first time. Instantly tripped a house breaker but no blown fuses. After some deduction/isolation and knowing the issue had to be on the primary, I figured out someone left to much slack on the conductors in the line cord and neutral was shorting to ground. From there no more breaker issues and everything powered up but I'm working through lots of little gremlins. Player unit bakelite was twisted to the point where snow shoe contacts were one full rivet off and P1 was non-existent. Fixed that. Now I've got a 1000 pt relay locking on which I'm sure with be something like a shorted/closed pf switch, EOS on the score reel, timing issue between the 1000 pt relay lock switch and the EOS on the score reel or maybe a magnetized latch plate. I'll get them sorted out soon enough.

Pin plays like a rocket. Every time I hear someone talk about EM flippers being weak or EMs being slow I just wish I could transplant them in from of a properly adjusted pin with rebuilt flippers, pops, slings and a cleaned up playfield. I've only play tested and can already tell its as fast of a pin as many of my William System 11 or Gottlieb System 80B. And with the protectors I make there is no rolling through cupped inserts or sever planking/paint loss. Its like someone put a diamond plated clear coat on. Love it!

Thanks man. I am currently filming pieces of this restore and I do have a few segments about the protector. The work isn’t being done while on camera but kind of an overview of my approach and what it looks like from start to finish. I could film another segment showing the tools used for different size posts, lane guides, bushings exc. I’ll see if I can’t add more to it that would be helpful.

Thanks a lot. I would be interested. Shoot me a pm with some pics and what you would need to get for it.

Lock down bar receiver and coin door got some love.

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Coin door complete. That was more work than anticipated. Everything rusty, bent brackets, super dirty and the coin return button was seized. Had to use a torch. Black tape will be replaced with zip ties.

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Chime box restored

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Broken bottom panel = FIXED. Two damaged leg gussets = FIXED. Separated corner = FIXED. Busted back box collar = FIXED. Wood working skill level to date = C- (ain’t pretty but gets the job done)

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The rest of the inside gussets that connected the bottom panel to the cabinet have been pulled, sanded and reglued. None of them were holding as they should. Also glued a couple shims and a mending brace onto the lower mounting plank for the lower control board as it was cracked and sagging into the bottom panel.

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Lock down bar

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She’s got legs

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Dummy score reels get a fresh look. You can see how much the original reels discolored from pure white when compared to my first print out. Glad I found a nice color match paper.

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